This invention describes a method of forming an elongated tubular product. Specifically, it describes a continuous method of forming a composite laminate tube.
Tubular products are in widespread use in everyday life. Hoses are used to carry water and other fluids. Cans, which are tubular with closed ends, are used in packaging and as containers. In particular, tubular products made of composite laminates are used in aerospace applications. Composite construction offers the advantages of lightweight, high strength and high stiffness.
Most composite tube construction is done manually and intermittently. Tyically, a tube is made by manually winding elongated composite plies in a prescribed order around a stationary mandrel and curing the wound tube in an oven at elevated temperature and pressure. The intermittent methods are labor intensive and expensive. Furthermore, if there is a loss of pressure in the even during the curing process, voids may be formed in the composite tube which may entail rejecting the cured composite product.
It is therefore advantageous to provide a continuous method of forming a composite laminate tube, which overcomes the aforesaid disadvantages.